Gun Control

At a state house rotunda ceremony this morning, surrounded by scores of Moms Demand Action and RI Coalition Against Gun Violence activists wearing orange t-shirts, Gov. Gina Raimondo signed into law two new pieces of gun safety legislation. The first, sponsored in the Senate by Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin and in the House by […]

The Red Bandana Fund is pleased to announce two local advocates, Henrietta White-Holder and Linda Finn, as the 2018 recipients of the Red Bandana Award! The Award, the sixth annual, honors individuals and groups whose work embodies the spirit and work of Richard Walton, a longtime Rhode Island activist who died in 2012. The awards […]

Mike Chippendale, a Foster legislator, has managed to raise an issue that Governor Gina Raimondo and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, the two leading candidates for governor, can agree on. The issue being that he was wrong to call gun safety activist and Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez a “dummy” in a tweet yesterday that he eventually […]

When East Greenwich legislator Anthony Giarrusso was asked about a ban on assault weapons, he talked about a bill banning bump stocks. But when it came time to vote for the bill that bans bump stocks, Giarrusso wasn’t there. “This is my sixth session and the first time any major bill was considered on the […]

At least 8,000 students, parents, allies, and activists gathered on the lawn in front of the State House Saturday for the March for Our Lives RI, the local instance of a gun safety movement that brought millions to the streets with more than 800 marches across the country. They came from all corners of the […]

Hardly any state bills this year are as likely to increase racial and other discrimination as the awful Red Flag Gun Bill (H7688 and S2492), which is scheduled for a public hearing today. The bill claims to be about removing guns from people who pose an “extreme risk” of violence. However, it’s so badly written […]

Nearly 500 people packed the Rhode Island State House rotunda Tuesday for a rally celebrating the introduction of a bill banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. They filled the stairs and the second-floor hallways, dangled banners over railings, and cheered the legislators and high school students who urged the general assembly to take action. […]

Flanked by red-t-shirted members of Moms Demand Action, Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order at Warwick City Hall this afternoon aimed at assisting law enforcement in removing guns from those determined to pose danger to themselves or others. The three components of the order provide for coordination among state and local police investigating reports […]

Rhode Island police officers shot and killed a man and wounded a woman in a pickup truck on Interstate 95 near downtown Providence Thursday. It remains unclear why officers shot at the pair in the pickup, or to what extent the incident was related to a stolen police car earlier that morning. State Police Col. […]

It was standing room only in the State Room at the State House this afternoon as activists, survivors, and elected officials gathered to witness Gov. Gina Raimondo sign the Protect RI Families Act, which restricts access to firearms for domestic abusers. Gov. Raimondo, in introductory remarks, noted that elected officials always tend to offer prayers […]

“At last, victims of domestic abuse in Rhode Island will not have the constant fear of knowing that the person who abused them still has a gun,” said Representative Teresa Tanzi who has championed the bill in the House for at least three years.

Representative Teresa Tanzi, D-Narragansett, South Kingstown, was the lead sponsor of a domestic violence/gun control bill in this year’s General Assembly. She told me about domestic violence and her hopes of the bill becoming law now that Speaker Matiello has signaled an end to the current stand-off, with an indication that the House will meet […]

National Gun Violence Prevention Day was inspired the friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a teen who marched in President Barrack Obama’s second inaugural parade and was shot and killed a week later near her home in Chicago. Hadiya Pendleton would have turned 18 today.

“First they want equal housing, then education, then jobs, now they can marry!” complained Representative Arthur Corvese to constituents asking about legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.